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Are we closer to finding dark matter?

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Hot X-ray gas in a cluster of galaxies
Hot X-ray gas in a cluster of galaxies
To the extent that experiment is getting a look-in, not just theory, there’s hope.

Are we “One Step Closer to Dark Matter in Universe,” (ScienceDaily, Oct. 31, 2011)? Some scientists say maybe:

The universe is still a mystery. We know what about 5 percent of the universe consists of. The rest is simply unknown. Researchers have gotten as far as knowing that a major portion, about 23 percent of the universe consists of a new kind of matter. No one has seen this matter, and no one knows what it consists of. …

One international research team that has taken a giant step toward finding dark matter with the help of a new method.

“We’ve looked at gamma radiation from dwarf galaxies. These galaxies are small and dim, but extremely massive, so they seem to consist largely of dark matter. Unfortunately we still haven’t detected a gamma signal from the dark matter in these objects, but we are definitely getting closer. Our new method involves looking at several dwarf galaxies at the same time and combining the observations in a new way, which yields excellent results. This is an exciting time for dark matter research, because we’re getting closer and closer,” says Maja Llena Garde.

We’ll be watching the file.

See also: Dark matter detected by the CRESST experiment at Gran Sasso?

Comments
Color me skeptical. The only "closer" they are getting on dark matter is "closer to the funding source." We've discussed this here before, but repeating myself, I don't think there is anything mysterious about dark matter. It is bigger than dust and smaller than the Earth. That gives it something like 40 orders of magnitude of size to hide in. There is no need to invoke WIMPS or MACHOS, these are merely chunks of ice and dirt that are bigger than a sand grain and smaller than the Moon. Why haven't we seen it then? Because it is cold, black, and pretty small by astronomical standards. Hey, we have only a handful Oort Cloud candidates out of the trillion or so we think are there. If we can't see the ones in our own solar system, why do we think we can see them in other solar systems?Robert Sheldon
November 1, 2011
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Of related note:
"The 'First Mover' is necessary for change occurring at each moment." Michael Egnor - Aquinas’ First Way http://www.evolutionnews.org/2009/09/jerry_coyne_and_aquinas_first.html
bornagain77
November 1, 2011
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I find it interesting that the missing Dark matter is what is implicated in giving galaxies their overall 3-Dimensional shape:,,,
The Mathematical Anomaly Of Dark Matter - video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4133609 Dark Matter Halos of Disk Galaxies Excerpt: Dark matter's properties can only be inferred indirectly by observing the motions of the stars and gas (of a galaxy). http://chandra.as.utexas.edu/~kormendy/dm-halo-pic.html
,,,Whereas transcendent quantum information is now implicated in giving living organisms their 3-Dimensional shape;
'non-local' epigenetic information: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNy78O6ZpU8wpFIgkILi85TvhC9mSqzUSE_jzbksoHY/edit?hl=en_US
(Perhaps the 'missing' dark matter is not missing at all, but is merely transcendent quantum information which is not 'materially' there in the first place! i.e. there is in all likelihood no matter to look for!)
Is Unknown Force In Universe Acting On Dark Matter? Excerpt: It is possible that a non-gravitational fifth force is ruling the dark matter with an invisible hand, leaving the same fingerprints on all galaxies, irrespective of their ages, shapes and sizes." ,,Dr Famaey added, "If we account for our observations with a modified law of gravity, it makes perfect sense to replace the effective action of hypothetical dark matter with a force closely related to the distribution of visible matter." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022154644.htm "I discovered that nature was constructed in a wonderful way, and our task is to find out its mathematical structure" Albert Einstein - The Einstein Factor - Reader's Digest
bornagain77
November 1, 2011
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